Basic Concepts to Understand Plants - Part 2

Vocabulary flashcards covering plant adaptations, ecological plant groups, DOH-approved medicinal plants, human uses, and specialized fields of botany.

Adaption to water

Aquatic plants are plants that live in water. They can save energy and matter by not growing extensive root systems, vascular tissues, or thick cuticles on leaves.

For instance, water lilies have bowl-shaped flowers and broad, flat leaves that float.

Plants that live in moving water, such as streams and rivers, may have different adaptations.

Adaptations to extreme dryness

are called xerophytes. Plants that live in extremely dry environments have the opposite problem: how to get and keep water. Its root system is much more widespread. Cactus

Adaptations to Air

Plants called epiphytes grow on other plants. They obtain moisture from the air and make food by photosynthesis.

Most epiphytes are ferns or orchids that live in tropical or temperate rainforests

Hydrophytes

Plants adapted to live wholly or partly submerged in water or in wet, aquatic habitats.

Mesophytes

Land plants that thrive in environments with a moderate supply of water that are neither very dry nor very wet.

Xerophytes

Plants adapted to survive in dry habitats or xeric conditions with limited water supply, high temperatures, and low humidity.

Hygrophytes

Moisture- and shade-loving plants with poorly developed root and vascular systems that expel excess water through hydathodes due to low transpiration rates.

Halophytes

Plants that inhabit saline soil or saline water with high concentrations of mineral salts such as $\text{NaCl}$, $\text{MgCl}_2$, and $\text{MgSO}_4$.

Hydathodes

Special openings (water stomata) in hygrophytes through which excess water is expelled.

Aerenchyma

Tissue containing air spaces present in aquatic plant stems that provides necessary buoyancy and mechanical support to float the plant.

Hydrophyte Adaptations

Structural traits in aquatic plants, including stomata concentrated on the upper epidermis, large leaf air spaces, flat floating leaves, and reduced root systems.

Akapulko

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Cassia alata, Fabaceae), also known as "ringworm bush" or "bayabasbayabasan," used to treat ringworms and skin fungal infections.

Ampalaya

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Momordica charantia, Cucurbitaceae), also known as bitter gourd or bitter melon, used in the treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Bawang

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Allium sativum, Amaryllidaceae), commonly known as garlic, that reduces blood cholesterol and helps control blood pressure.

Bayabas

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Psidium guajava, Myrtaceae) used as an antiseptic to disinfect wounds and as a mouthwash for tooth decay and gum infection.

Lagundi

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Vitex negundo, Lamiaceae), known as the "Five-leaved chaste tree," used for the relief of coughs and asthma.

Niyog-niyogan

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Combretum indicum, Combretaceae), known as "Chinese honey suckle," used for the elimination of intestinal worms such as Ascaris and Trichina.

Sambong

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Blumea camphora, Asteraceae) that acts as a diuretic to assist in the excretion of urinary stones.

Tsaang gubat

A DOH-approved medicinal shrub (Carmona retusa, Boraginaceae) prepared like tea to treat intestinal motility issues and used as a mouthwash due to its high fluoride content.

Ulasimang bato

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Pepperomia pellucida) effective in fighting arthritis and gout, eaten fresh as a salad or taken as tea.

Yerba buena

A DOH-approved medicinal plant (Clinopodium douglasii, Lamiaceae), commonly known as peppermint, used as an analgesic to relieve body aches and pain.

Masticatories

Plant products consumed fresh, dried, or processed by chewing, such as Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and Ikmo (Piper betle).

Plant Pathology

The branch of botany studying organisms and environmental conditions causing plant diseases, their mechanisms, interactions, and management methods.

Plant Ecology

The branch of botany concerned with how plants interact with their environment, including soils, animal species, and landscape changes such as climate change.

Paleobotany

The study of extinct or fossilized plants recovered from geological strata.

Archaeobotany

The study of plant remains cultivated or used by ancient human populations recovered from archaeological contexts.

Forensic Botany

The application of plant material (such as pollen, seeds, leaves, flowers, fruits, and wood) to criminal investigations, legal questions, or determining cause of death.